8channers defend themselves against charges of transphobia with more transphobia

Yesterday, I noted some of the nasty transphobia that had shown up in a recent /gg/ thread on 8chan, undercutting somewhat the claims to respectability we’ve been hearing a lot of from GamerGaters recently. Well, 8channers noticed my post, and weren’t exactly pleased about it.

But their responses to my post, well, they didn’t exactly suggest that the transphobia I saw in the earlier thread was some sort of fluke.

Oh, sure, some of the commenters complained, as my critics often do, that I had “quote mined” the earlier thread.

Sitting cheek by jowl next to these comments were comments of a rather different sort. Trigger Warning for threats, transphobia, homophobia, etc.

So, yeah, there’s really no need to posit vast conspiracies sending paid shills to shitpost on 8chan when it’s pretty clear a sizeable portion of their userbase is happy to post crap like this for free.

And there’s no need to mine for quotes like these when there are so many of them just sitting right there on the surface.

I don’t have a racist uncle so much as a racist entire-family. My family are those people who, whenever someone crops up catching shit for being a racist or some other brand of bigot, immediately leaps to their defense. My parents went to Chik-fil-a for the first time in their lives after the owners turned out to be bigots, and they became huge Paula Deen fans when she was revealed to be a bigot.

We don’t have useful conversations about anything deeper than what’s for dinner.

Today’s vast feminist conspiracy, for example, involves making nikujaga so as to both use up leftover sake and fill up the freezer. This, too, is designed to insult and torment random dudes on the internet. Again, it is known.

Very creepy. Sounds like someone I used to know, who would try to argue that my feelings weren’t valid if I couldn’t explain why I felt them. Guy turned out to be a rapist. I’m sure that will surprise nobody.

I accept this criticism. I am wary of all the stuff people try to attach to me

And fuck you!

Thanks, Mackey. You figuratively owe me a new keyboard.

@WWTH:

Why does everyone have a racist uncle? What’s with that?

I dunno. Uncles are common to have, they’re one generation back, and the main thrust of the civil rights movement is only around 5 decades old? Or maybe it’s just that racism is degrading slower than a generation, so every generation has an uncle that’s even more racist than they turn out to be.

I have a racist uncle. And a racist dad. My maternal grandmother was racist, but she also thought books sucked the oxygen out of rooms (she claimed she read that in Reader’s Digest, so it had to be true), so I’m gonna give her a bit of a pass.

My ex inlaws were pretty much all racists. That was always fun at holidays. Now, I get to be grateful I never ever have to do holidays there again. Knocking on wood, before I jinx myself. Particle board counts, right?

My dad’s usually not that bad racism wise, but for some reason he’s decided to express his deepest sympathies at every possibly moment for the poor buisnesses whose buildings were burnt down in the riots in Ferguson, with nary a peep for the murdered kid that caused it. Oh well. I’m living on my own now. He can sod off.

I’m guessing it would be a waste of time to try to explain to him that it may have been Cointelpro – the 21st Century version that led to those buildings being torched? There are videos where you can see what look very much like cops setting the fires.

I doubt it. Even if you could somehow provide crystal clear proof that it wasn’t the rioters, he’d probably find some way to argue that the police needed to torch those buildings and that it was still the protestors’ fault.

His primary source of news is probably Fox News, and I’m pretty sure he thinks that Welfare Queens are a real thing. I think his takeaway from Ferguson is that black people raise their kids to be criminals and that causes police to kill them.

I guess. Still, I definitely discounted some of his beliefs as just ignorance, like when someone doesn’t understand how privilege works and therefore assume black poverty is self-afflicted, rather than starting with the idea that black people are inferior.

Ah well, whatever. Being an adult means you get to choose who you spend time with, and time spent with him isn’t fun. Easy fix.

My dad said one racist thing to me once. When I was first in puberty he told me that black guys would only want to get in my pants so watch out. That’s the one and only racist thing I’ve ever heard him say. It was just so weird. He’s normally pretty progressive. At least by white male baby boomer standards. Maybe he noticed his little girl was getting boobies and had a moment of panic? He probably doesn’t even remember saying it.

Mackey, don’t tell anyone but the real reason no one wants to talk with you is that every time you type something the abusive asshat who won’t take no for an answer red flags catch the breeze of your bloviating and flutter like big red flags. That’s the real reason.

I’m a believer that “racism of ignorance” is still racism. There’s really no way to think that, for instance, black people are more likely to be poor because they choose to be poor, and not trace that back to an underlying base of racism. Even if someone has no idea what the causes of poverty are (and really there are many contenders for causes and no certainties) there’s no way to think that black people are differentially affected because of some inherent trait in a way that isn’t racist.

My parents have a lot of racism of ignorance going. They think they have the answers even though they actually have no facts, and their answers just happen to be racist ones, and that makes them racists.

Blech. Gross. I got a similar thing with my mom when my sister started dating a black dude. She didn’t quite go all out against it, it was more like “her boyfriend is, you know, black *knowing look*”.

@Policy of Madness:

Yeah, pretty much. There’s this thing where people are super interested in figuring out if a person is “racist” and letting that decide if an action or belief is therefore “racist,” when that’s really not how it works.

My cousin, in high school, was dating a black guy. This was held as evidence of her low self esteem.

My dad once made an anti-Semitic joke about how Jewish Hospital here in town charges high prices because: Jewish. He didn’t mean it in a mean way, and Jewish Hospital had literally just saved his life, but (here’s one for Mackey if zie is still hanging about) nobody makes a joke like that who isn’t racist somewhere inside. Non-racist people just don’t think to make jokes where Jews or any other racial group is the butt of it. Just like people who aren’t ableist don’t make “lighthearted” comments at the expense of the mad. That shit isn’t funny.

My mom was once watching one of those shows where Andrew Zimmerman goes to strange furrin countries and eats their strange furriner food. He was in Australia, and my mom made a comment that was so shockingly racist that I won’t repeat it here.

Oh, right, before I forget. If anyone hasn’t seen this article on Dorian Johnson’s testemony in the Michael Brown case, I’ve found it extremely worthwhile. I’d wager the article approaches the truth of what happened, and why.

Fear not, I just binned his last three comments in a round of poke-the-troll. The insect spray is for when cassandra flees winter to brave our stinkin’ rotten summer. 😛

kirby – hugs accepted (cos friends’ hugs are nice) but it’s fine, I was laid off in April and apart from cash being a bit tight, I’m not that bothered. After all look at all the modding time I’m getting! 😛

thebewilderness –

Mackey, don’t tell anyone but the real reason no one wants to talk with you is that every time you type something the abusive asshat who won’t take no for an answer red flags catch the breeze of your bloviating and flutter like big red flags. That’s the real reason.

Blech. Gross. I got a similar thing with my mom when my sister started dating a black dude. She didn’t quite go all out against it, it was more like “her boyfriend is, you know, black *knowing look*”.

The funny thing is, I don’t think it would phase him one bit if I had a black boyfriend now. He’s had two serious girlfriends who were black and my brother’s roommate is black. He usually likes pretty much everyone unless they’re a complete asshole. It was such an out of character thing for him to say.

Sad thing: my sister briefly had an Aboriginal boyfriend when she was in her teens. Our racist father was totally pissed off about it. Forty years later … my sister’s a racist, long married to an even bigger racist. 🙁

Here’s one that totally matches the vibe in my head every time he puts fingers to post!

The word is about, there’s something evolving,
whatever may come, the world keeps revolving
They say the next big thing is here,
that the revolution’s near,
but to me it seems quite clear
that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating

.. and I’ve seen it before
.. and I’ll see it again
.. yes I’ve seen it before
.. just little bits of history repeating

If he fails the flounce again:

and the joke is rather sad,
that its all just a little bit of history repeating

You’re the new newest thing; we’ve seen it all before.
In fact I’ve seen it many times and I’ll see it many more.
You know it won’t last; you know it never does –
But better be a has been than to be a never was.
You can get out quick and clean or prolong the agony:
Whichever you prefer – it’s all the same to me.

Well, now I’m unemployed there is one Welfare Queen in the world. Though I bet being white and childless would excuse me from being lumped in as one of those people by racists.

I can’t stand people who do that kind of thing. Not that I have any love for people who hate safety nets in general, but when you make special exceptions for “the right” people it becomes painfully obvious you’re just a racist shithead.
I’ve been on food stamps , which some of my coworkers know. They will be complaining about people on food stamps “screwing the system” and then remember that I (their boss) uses food stamps and spit out “Oh, but not like you! You actually need it!”. Riiight, because you know nothing about my finances OR any of these other people, you dumb racist shit.

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